VACANCIES

Philadelphia Home Rule Charter art. III, ch. 5

in effect

Philadelphia Home Rule Charter § 3-500 Mayor.

§ 3-500. Mayor. An election to fill a vacancy for an unexpired term in the office of Mayor shall be held at the next municipal or general election occurring more than thirty days after the vacancy occurs, unless the vacancy occurs in the last year of the term, in which event a Mayor shall be chosen by the Council by a majority vote of all its members. Until the vacancy is filled, or in case of the Mayor's temporary disability, the President of the Council shall act as Mayor; and if the President of the Council should resign or be unable to act, then the Chairman of the Finance Committee of the Council shall act as Mayor. ANNOTATION Sources: Act of June 25, 1919, P.L. 581, Article II, Section 4, as amended. Purposes: Present law is continued for two reasons: it presents no problem of any urgency that needs correction; and should the method for filling a vacancy have been changed, it would have been necessary for the voters to have passed separately upon the proposed change at the time of the adoption of the Charter.

Philadelphia Home Rule Charter § 3-501 City Controller and City Treasurer.

§ 3-501. City Controller and City Treasurer. Vacancies in the office of City Controller, or the City Treasurer until the office becomes an appointive one, shall be filled in the manner provided by law. ANNOTATION Sources: No specific source but see Act of June 25, 1919, P.L. 581, Article IV, Section 2. Purposes: This section continues existing law. See Annotation to Section 3-500. Notes 88 | Amended by approval of the voters at the election held on May 17, 2022, and certified on June 6, 2022. See Bill No. 220001 (approved February 25, 2022); Resolution No. 220009 (adopted February 24, 2022).

Philadelphia Home Rule Charter § 3-502 Appointive Offices.

§ 3-502. Appointive Offices. A vacancy in an appointive office for a term shall be filled by appointment for the balance of the unexpired term. Such an appointment shall be made in the same manner as an original appointment. ANNOTATION Sources: No specific source. Purposes: Vacancies in appointive offices for a term are filled by appointment for the balance of unexpired terms so as to preserve the system of staggered appointments where they are required, and otherwise so as not to impose on a succeeding appointing power hold-over appointees. Vacancies in appointive offices are to be filled in the same manner as original appointments. _______________

Source: City of Philadelphia, The Philadelphia Code and Home Rule Charter (American Legal Publishing, codelibrary.amlegal.com)URL: https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/philadelphia/latest/philadelphia_pa/0-0-0-264109Fetched: 10/27/2026